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Displacement Planning – Part 2, by J.M.

(Continued from Part 1.)

Depending on the circumstances you may be able to utilize GPS for navigation along your planned route. To do so will probably requires that you have the appropriate maps and app(s) downloaded locally on your device (don’t rely on an Internet connection being available) and that your device be charged for the duration of the displacement. If you plan on using GPS you should also include some sort of external battery pack for each person so they can recharge their device. Due to the relatively delicate nature of electronics (including GPS satellites), I strongly recommend that if you plan on using GPS you also should still have paper maps and compasses as a backup, along with the skills to use them.

Supplies

The next area of displacement planning involves what you will bring with you in terms of supplies and equipment. Most people in the preparedness community tend to espouse the ‘beans, bullets and bandaids’ approach to prioritizing what to pack, but for the purpose of displacing I recommend adding a few things to that list. Here is what I recommend considering for your displacement load-out, in order of priority:

What you pack and how much you pack will be driven by your goals, routes and viable transport options. If you’re displacing to head to a fully-stocked cabin in the woods, you only need to pack what you’ll need for the trip there. If you’re planning for a scenario where you’re forced to evacuate your primary location and have to start over in a new location, you’ll need to pack a lot more supplies.

Cache It!

Caching is another option for ensuring access to equipment and supplies, and basically involves pre-storing material in hidden locations along your planned route(s). While the concept makes sense, implementing it can be difficult in the context of displacement planning. Caching typically involves hiding material around your property or immediate area so you can access it in the event your primary supplies become unavailable. Since displacement usually involves traveling over some distance, usually away from property you control or access regularly, ensuring the safety and availability of hidden caches can be problematic. What looks like a deserted field today may become a housing development in a few months, depriving you of your cache. If you do decide to implement en-route caching as part of your displacement planning, here are a few suggestions:

Loading

Having the best equipment and supplies in the world won’t matter if you can’t get them to your destination. How you load your gear can have a big impact on the comfort and success of any displacement activity, and the method(s) of transport you’re planning on using will drive what you can use for carrying loads. The first aspect of load planning that you should consider is redundancy – ensuring that the loss of any single load won’t completely derail your displacement. In the military this concept is referred to as ‘cross loading’, which means spreading the load of people, gear and supplies across multiple transports so the loss of one doesn’t scuttle the whole mission. For example, if you plan on traveling with more than one vehicle, each vehicle should be loaded with some of each type of gear and supplies so that if one is lost you’ll still have enough to reach your destination. This concept should be applied at all levels of packing, from backpacks to vehicle-pulled trailers.

The next aspect is supporting of the concept of ‘graceful degradation’ in your packing, which means that if your primary method of transport fails you’ve got a secondary method already packed and ready to go with minimal effort. For example, if your primary method of transport is a trailer attached to a motor vehicle, you should also have some secondary transport options like game carts, sleds or inflatable rafts packed so that if the vehicle dies or roads become impassable you can quickly move supplies to the secondary transport and be ready to go. This will necessitate having pre-packed cross-loaded boxes or bins that you can quickly move from the trailer(s) to the cart(s) without having to spend an hour digging through the trailer to find what you want to pack on the cart. You should also have backpacks packed and cross-loaded for each individual to use in case the carts/sleds break or they have to be abandoned.

(To be concluded tomorrow, in Part 3.)

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Comments Disabled To "Displacement Planning – Part 2, by J.M."

#1 Comment By Vagus On May 1, 2019 @ 4:01 pm

Most of this should already be in your vehicles.

I keep a cold weather pack with a change of clothes, wool mittens, sweater, scarf, blanket, poncho, tarp/emergency blanket combo, mora knife, alcohol stove, etc. I also keep my hiking day pack in the truck, which has a first aid kit, tarp, paracord, and lifestraw.

I also keep a short one-piece shovel and a hatchet. At one time I used folding shovels, but eventually the hinge failed. I also keep a personal hygiene kit, toothbrush, wipes, all that.

Point being, I keep enough supplies in my trunk that I can easily create a camp if I get stuck beside the road, stuck in a storm, traffic jam, etc. The side benefit, of course, is that in a short bugout almost all of my boxes are already checked.

I wanted to second the authors recommendation of a secondary transport. Even with a sedan, I have a bike rack and am working on a moped conversion for an old bicycle. Combining the two I have a backup vehicle and greatly extend my range if gas is limited and I have to abandon my primary vehicle.

#2 Comment By sog On May 1, 2019 @ 5:34 pm

foldable ebike maybe if gasoline is at issue
they are pretty pricey but there are conversion kits as well to mdify ur existing pedal bikes

#3 Comment By Jefferson Davis On May 1, 2019 @ 6:48 pm

That’s why our BOV is a pickup truck (4×4). We have a 50-gallon truck gas/diesel installed in the bed. We usually fill that at the time of the tanks. With that we are in range of everything we drive to and back to our property.

#4 Comment By Michael Haas On May 1, 2019 @ 9:12 pm

Camouflaging this displacement might be worth more attention. Years ago I bought a restored VW Camper Vanagon for a bug-out vehicle; propane stove, big water tank, boxy room inside, etc.
What I failed to appreciate is how much positive, widespread attention this ‘bus’ is getting from people who remember them, maybe had one. People are continually honking, waving, coming up to talk to me about my vehicle, full of compliments. Fun for sure, and the last thing I need if a bug-out vehicle is needed.

#5 Comment By pennies from heaven On May 2, 2019 @ 4:18 am

if traveling by road you need to have a second vehicle either in front or way behind, nothing harshes your buzz like coming around a curve and seeing two vehicles nose to nose blocking the road, then another vehicle pulls across the road behind you and you are penned in..

#6 Comment By Ol Granny On May 2, 2019 @ 5:11 am

I believe we are beyond the point of “don’t cache anything that can get you in trouble.” I mean in the People’s Republic of California it is illegal to have a drinking straw and illegal to have tobacco products in Laguna Beach. We are a sanctuary Prepper family and cache what we want and when we want. PERIOD! We don’t care about the law and what is changing every 15 minutes from some Liberal lawmaker taking more God given freedoms.